(This review is for both parts)
I've seen these episode so many times and they're always great on every rewatch. They are an excellent homage to the silver/golden age of superheroes in contrast to modern depictions and how they inspired our heroes (and the writers clearly) to be heroes themselves.
But I think what makes these so brilliant and timeless is the nods and jokes about the more nefarious implications of that era (1940s and 50s) as underneath the white washed polish. The female hero on the team basically being treated as a secretary just because she's a girl and Hawk Girl having to irritatedly go along with it to blend in.
And the line from The Streak to Green Lantern "You're a credit to your people, son" is such a brilliant nod to the racism of that era while marinating that "everyone is nice and polite" facade. The entire series is like this being able to imbue mature topics bc it never pandered to it's audience just bc it was directed at kids.
It respects its audience's intelligence to just present the situation and understand what's happening instead of beating you over the head with it's message. It's why the original DCEU is beloved by adults still.
And Part 2 goes deeper into the implications of maintaining a world that ignores the darker sides of humanity and the inherint problems with trying to force things to never change (a lesson a lot of people in the modern political landscape can benefit from).
These episodes are kind of Justice League mixed with the movie Pleasantville. And it's some terrific storytelling.
I've seen these episode so many times and they're always great on every rewatch. They are an excellent homage to the silver/golden age of superheroes in contrast to modern depictions and how they inspired our heroes (and the writers clearly) to be heroes themselves.
But I think what makes these so brilliant and timeless is the nods and jokes about the more nefarious implications of that era (1940s and 50s) as underneath the white washed polish. The female hero on the team basically being treated as a secretary just because she's a girl and Hawk Girl having to irritatedly go along with it to blend in.
And the line from The Streak to Green Lantern "You're a credit to your people, son" is such a brilliant nod to the racism of that era while marinating that "everyone is nice and polite" facade. The entire series is like this being able to imbue mature topics bc it never pandered to it's audience just bc it was directed at kids.
It respects its audience's intelligence to just present the situation and understand what's happening instead of beating you over the head with it's message. It's why the original DCEU is beloved by adults still.
And Part 2 goes deeper into the implications of maintaining a world that ignores the darker sides of humanity and the inherint problems with trying to force things to never change (a lesson a lot of people in the modern political landscape can benefit from).
These episodes are kind of Justice League mixed with the movie Pleasantville. And it's some terrific storytelling.